


It's Not What He Deserves, But He'll Be Damned If He'll Give It Up

by Calacious



Series: Comfort in November and December 2020 [1]
Category: Creep (2014)
Genre: AU: Alternate Ending, Attempted Murder, Biting, Bruising, Comfortember2020, Fluff and Angst, Graphic Descriptions of Violence Against a Child, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Non-Graphic Smut, Punishment (mentioned), Rescue, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27344563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calacious/pseuds/Calacious
Summary: Josef has always thought that Aaron was too good for this world, and his inadvertent rescue of what was to have been Josef's latest kill, just proves the point.
Relationships: Aaron/Josef (Creep)
Series: Comfort in November and December 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996825
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	It's Not What He Deserves, But He'll Be Damned If He'll Give It Up

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the characters of this work of fiction, and the character that I did create did not fare too well in this story. I am not making a monetary profit through writing this.
> 
> The mildly-dubious consent tag has nothing to do with the child, and everything to do with Aaron's Stockholm Syndrome as Josef's partner and lover in this fic.
> 
> AU: Josef did not kill Aaron, but does think about doing so quite frequently.

Josef smiled as he watched the crimson droplets fall from the blade and drop to the ground where it was immediately soaked up by the damp earth. The soil was thirsty for more than just water. That was always the case.

"It's a beautiful day," he said to the boy struggling beneath him. 

The boy's hair was stuck to his head by the dampness of the rain and sweat. Blood trickled down the boy's chin from the nick that he'd etched into it, marched across his throat, and sank into the earth. 

"Don't you think?" Josef asked, digging the blade into the boy's cheek and slicing.

The boy shouted a curse, and tears sprang into his eyes. He shook his head, and Josef laughed. 

"Come now," Josef said, smiling as he drew a lazy half circle that arced from the corner of the boy's left eye down to his chin. It was a thin slice. It wouldn't even need stitches, not really. It was enough, however, to set the boy's face aflame with pain as nerves were damaged. The boy wouldn’t need stitches at all when he was done with him. Stitches wouldn’t be enough to undo the work that he planned to do.

"It is a beautiful day," he said. "Rain, like blood, washes away all of our sins."

"I don't want to die," the boy, Jimmy or John or Billy, said. The boy’s name was unimportant. He would not need a name where he was going.

"Of course you don't," Josef said, petting the boy's hair with the hand that wasn't holding the knife. It was a display of mock comfort. 

He had the boy pinned to the wet ground with his body and relished the feel of the boy's weak struggles. The power that he held over life and death. He was like a god in this moment. In every moment like it. The boy, like the others before him, was nothing more than a wayward acolyte who needed to be brought to repentance through the pain of the blade. 

"Josef!" Aaron, his partner (the man he should have killed) called. The man was out of breath, panting. He'd run there. Of course he had. 

Josef closed his eyes and brushed aside the sudden spark of murderous rage he felt toward the other man. He hadn't killed him when he'd had the chance those many years ago. Instead, he'd kept the man, taught him his place in Josef's life, the role he would play as observer, and lover. Still, Aaron had his moments of rebellion. Josef would simply have to punish him when they returned to the cabin later that day. Teach him not to interrupt Josef when he was at work.

"What is it?" Josef asked, glaring down at the boy who was crying in earnest now.  
It was probably a blessing that the boy could not see his face. That the boy was face to face with Peachfuzz, rather than the true monster beneath the mask. A monster that, because of Aaron’s untimely interruption, he would never get to see now. A monster that none of those he killed got to see until the moment that they gave up their lives.

"Josef!” Aaron, the man he loved and hated in equal measures, burst into the small clearing in the forest and placed his hands on his knees as he fought for breath. "We have to leave. Now."

"But I'm not finished," Josef said, glancing up at Aaron, wishing that Aaron could see the anger in his eyes. The mask could not hide the anger in the tone of his voice, though, and he was pleased to see Aaron shudder in response.

Aaron had his camera around his neck, no doubt recording his hasty run through the forest to the clearing where Josef carried out his monthly ritual. A ritual that Aaron knew better than to interrupt.

"There's no time," Aaron said. "They're coming."

"Who?" Josef asked, perplexed.

"The boy's parents," Aaron said. "You really fucked up this time. I thought you said he was a runaway.”

Josef's jaw clenched, and he pressed the tip of the knife under the boy's eye, intending to do one last thing before he had to leave. One last thing to remind the boy that he should never, ever talk to strangers. That he should never wander away from his parents. Shouldn’t pretend that he was unloved. Abused. A runaway. That he should never tell a lie.

"Remember this," Josef said as he carved a half moon beneath the boy's eye, and dug the tip underneath the eyeball, loosening it from the socket. The boy's scream made birds cry out and take flight, the beat of their wings was almost deafening. It was the perfect backdrop to this moment.

“Little boys whose parents love them, should never, ever wander far from the nest,” Josef said, sinking the knife in a little further so that it nearly touched the brain. 

“And they should never, ever pretend that they are not loved.”

Smiling, Josef pulled the knife free, and wiped the blade clean on his jeans. He pushed off the boy and was thrilled to see that the boy had soiled himself, that his eye socket was filling with blood. That the boy was still crying, and begging, and promising that he’d never, ever tell another lie.

"Let's go," Josef said, reaching for Aaron and pulling him along behind him. He could hear the sound of the boy’s parents crashing through the woods, and it gave him a bit of a thrill, the thought of almost having been caught. He should have let them catch him. Let them witness the killing blow before he did away with them too.

"Tell me you got that on video,” he said once they were out of the clearing, and the sounds of sobbing had faded into the background of the forest’s songs -- the soughing of the wind through the trees, birds singing in spite of the pattering of rain.

"Of course I did," Aaron said as if there should never have been any doubt, as though he hadn’t just broken a cardinal rule by interrupting Josef in the middle of a kill. "I'll pull the feed from the hidden cameras when we're home, and splice them together for the film. It'll take me a few hours to edit, but it will be ready to watch tonight."

Some of the anger left Josef at those words, tension bled from his shoulders, and he squeezed Aaron's hand. He should have known that Aaron, sweet, trusting Aaron, would never let him down.

"Good," Josef said. "When you're done, we can watch the film together, and then make love."

Aaron blushed, and bit his lip. It was a very fetching look on him, and Josef couldn't wait to get him home and show him the error of his ways, then reward him. He was going to enjoy every moment of the torture and pleasure he wrought, and Aaron (if he knew what was good for him) would enjoy it too.

When they reached the car, Josef removed his mask, exchanged his bloodied clothing for the change of clean clothing that he’d stashed in the trunk. Once they were home, Aaron would wash the mask and the knife, then burn the soiled clothing. 

“Next time, love,” Josef said, squeezing Aaron’s hand hard enough to leave bruises, heart spiking with adrenaline when his lover winced at the pain. “Don’t be foolish and try to rescue me when I don’t need rescuing. And never call me by name when I’m at work.”

Then he brought their twined hands up between them, and kissed Aaron’s knuckles, earning a nod, and a quiet, “I won’t.”

“Good,” Josef said. “There’s my good boy.”

Both lost in thought, the ride home was near silent. The drumming of Aaron’s fingers on the steering wheel was the only sound that permeated the thickness of the air between them. Josef, feeling a stab of pity for the other man, rested his hand on Aaron’s knee and squeezed. The drumming stopped, and Aaron cut a look at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, swallowing nervously as he moved his gaze back to the road. They were nearly home, no doubt he was already imagining the punishment he would receive once Josef had him locked away from the prying eyes of the world. A world that did not deserve to have a good man like Aaron in it.

“It’s okay,” Josef said. “I know you’ll make it up to me.”

Aaron nodded. “Of course. It’s just,” he bit his lip, and Josef squeezed his knee to get him to continue. “I...I don’t want to lose you. Not like that. Not to some stupid boy’s asshole parents.”

“I had it under control,” Josef said, keeping his voice even. “You know they would never have been a match for me.”

“Others were coming, too,” Aaron said, voice strained. “They had dogs, and a whole team of people out there searching.”

There were tears in Aaron’s eyes, and his knuckles were white. He was trembling and they needed to get home faster than they were going to if Josef was going to get this under control. Aaron was far, far too kind and forgiving. He was far too good for this world. Too good for him. It was time to set him free (he had just the axe for the job, the perfect place to bury him), because if he didn’t, Josef was going to ruin him.

“Don’t worry,” Aaron added, cutting a glance at him. “I put them off your scent.”

Josef knew a moment of panic, eyes searching Aaron’s, hoping that the man hadn’t done what he thought he’d done, and sighing in relief when Aaron smiled and shook his head minutely. 

“I used pepper, you know from the packets I took from that fast food place you took me to that one time,” Aaron said. He dug around in his pocket, pulling out the ruined packets, and relieved, Josef laughed. 

“Good thinking,” he said, relaxing back against the seat. Maybe there was hope for Aaron after all. Maybe the axe and the grave he’d already dug for Aaron could wait a while longer. 

“I just want you to be safe,” Aaron said. 

“I know you do,” Josef said. “You did good.” He patted Aaron’s knee and smiled when the man let out a relieved sigh.

They made it home in a peaceful silence, broken only by the sound of the windshield wipers and the rain hitting the roof of the car. It was comforting. 

And it was that sense of comfort that Aaron brought him, more than anything else, that made Josef go lenient in his punishment of the tenderhearted man. Left Aaron’s skin relatively bruise free. It was the arousing thought of Aaron putting his own life on the line for Josef’s, that sparked a round of lovemaking that carried on throughout the night and into the next day. 

“I love you,” Aaron said just as dawn was breaking over the horizon, the orange and pink hues spilling through the slats of the blinds in their bedroom window.

His body was pinned beneath Josef’s, his hands cuffed to the headboard as part of his ongoing punishment for using Josef’s name in the clearing. Tears had gathered in his eyes from the brutal, bruising pace of lovemaking that Josef had set during their most recent fuck. The stickiness of cum had settled on Aaron’s stomach and had crusted between the cheeks of his ass, yet there was a smile on his face, and a look of complete adoration in his glistening eyes. It was overwhelming. Josef couldn’t tear his eyes away. Truth was, he didn’t want to.

Josef would say the words in return if he could. He knew that Aaron wouldn’t expect them from him. Knew that Aaron hadn’t said them just to hear them come from Josef’s mouth. He’d said them, only because he meant them, and he expected nothing in return for them, not even a reprieve from his punishment. It was more than Josef had ever earned, and yet all that he wanted.

“I don’t deserve you,” Josef said instead. It was the closest he’d ever get to saying those three little words that most lovers anticipated hearing, and if the smile that broke out across Aaron’s face was anything to go by, he knew exactly what Josef was saying, what he could never really give voice to.

“We don’t deserve each other,” Aaron said. “We complete each other.”

Josef laughed. “What movie is that line from again?”

“It’s the movie of our life,” Aaron said, moaning when Josef bit his neck. “Before you,” he said, “my life was going nowhere.”

“And now?” Josef asked, licking at the bruise his teeth had left. 

“Now?” Aaron said, gaze going soft. “Now it’s going places I’d never dreamed it could before.”

“You’re a cheesy brat,” Josef said. 

“I’m your cheesy brat,” Aaron corrected. 

“That you are,” Josef agreed, grateful that the grave he’d dug when he’d first lured Aaron away from the dull life he’d led before they met was still empty. 

Maybe he’d fill it in one of these days. After all, he could always dig another one should the need arise, or he could just leave Aaron in a peaceful spot, facing the water, amidst the sound of birds chirping and children’s laughter. It would have to be an early day in spring, or maybe late fall day would be better. Aaron loved autumn, and his blood would look so pretty against the bright, colorful leaves of fall.

“What are you thinking about?” Aaron asked, fingers grasping the cuffs. Josef would have to take them off soon. The punishment was long since over.

“Hmm?” Josef said, picturing Aaron sitting on a park bench, back to him as he gazes out at the lake, watching the ducks swim in lazy circles. He’d never even see the killing blow. Would never know what struck him, though, in the split second before death, he’d know who’d done it (there could only be one person who would grant him the mercy of a painless death). He’d be dead before the first duck took to the air in reaction to the act of unprovoked violence. It would be a peaceful, merciful death. The death of a good man brought about by the man who could never really deserve him, no matter what Aaron said about love and completing each other.

“Oh,” Josef said, blinking when he finally registered what Aaron had asked, knowing that he’d need to give an answer that wasn’t the truth. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

He removed the handcuffs, and bathed Aaron, and then watched as Aaron spliced together the feeds from the cameras he’d hidden in the clearing. No one had found the cameras, the boy had been recovered by his parents, the rescue party had continued to search and had found nothing. They were in the clear. 

“I like this, here,” Aaron said, freezing an image on the screen of Josef, the muzzle of the Peachfuzz mask coated in blood, looking off to the side, almost as though he’s looking into the camera, no doubt in response to hearing Aaron calling his name. The eyes of the mask seem to glow supernaturally, and Josef smiles.

“You look like a werewolf,” Aaron said. “I’m sure that’s what the boy will tell the police when they ask him what happened. That he was attacked by a werewolf.”

“I should have killed him,” Josef said, regretful. “It would have been a mercy.”

“Sometimes, we don’t need mercy,” Aaron said, carefully weighing out each word. “Sometimes we need to feel the wrath and rod of god so that we don’t take anything in life for granted, so we know what it really means to be alive. So we know what it’s like to stick a knife into something and dig out the beauty that’s been trapped inside.”

Touched that Aaron remembered his words after all this time, that he’d taken them to heart and made them his own, Josef surged forward and kissed the man, drawing blood and garnering a gasp. The kiss deepened, and for the first time in Josef’s memory, the world and all of its problems faded away, leaving just him and Aaron, the man who, for all his bumbling idiocy and open trust, rescued him after all.


End file.
